Abacus Financial has promoted Senior Vice President Sean McKeever to Head of Underwriting and Portfolio Management. Mr. McKeever is a founding member of Abacus and has more than ten years of experience in leveraged finance. Abacus focuses exclusively on providing cash flow senior financing for private equity-sponsored, lower-middle market companies.
“As a co-founder of the firm, Sean has been instrumental in Abacus’ growth and success. His appointment to Head of Underwriting and Portfolio Management recognizes the significant leadership contributions he has made as we successfully built our business and laid the groundwork for our next stage of growth,” said Tim Clifford, President and CEO of Abacus.
Before he co-founded Abacus with Mr. Clifford in 2011, Mr. McKeever was a First Vice President and founding member of Amalgamated Capital, where he led the underwriting of senior-debt financing. Prior to that, he was a Vice President at Churchill Financial and was a founding member of the Leveraged Finance Group at Comerica Bank. Mr. McKeever has an MS in Financial Economics from Boston University and a BS in Business Administration from Babson College.
In addition to the promotion of Mr. McKeever, Abacus has also just added three investment professionals to its transaction team, expanding the firm to eight members. “Our continued steady growth is the principal reason for the three new hires, all of whom are experienced professionals with strong backgrounds,” said Mr. Clifford. “We had reached a point where we needed additional resources to serve our private equity clients and monitor a growing loan investment portfolio.
Timothy Wong has joined Abacus as a Vice President and is responsible for originating, structuring, underwriting and executing new investments. Before joining Abacus, Mr. Wong was a Vice President and founding member of the Leveraged Finance Group at US Bancorp in New York. Prior to that, he served as an Assistant Vice President at CIT Asset Management and as a Senior Associate with American Capital. He has a BA in Economics with a concentration in Finance from the University of Illinois.
Eric Petersen joins as an Associate and he will participate in structuring, underwriting and executing new investments, as well as engaging in portfolio management. Prior to joining Abacus, Mr. Petersen was a Leveraged Finance Associate in the Merchant Banking Group at BNP Paribas. Earlier he served as an Associate in the Mergers and Acquisitions Group at General Electric. A graduate of the United States Naval Academy and a naval officer, he served for over ten years as an F/A-18 fighter pilot. At the Naval Academy, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in English. Subsequently, he earned an MBA from the University of Southern California and an MS in Quantitative and Computational Finance from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Chengyuan Zhao has joined Abacus as an Analyst and he will participate in structuring, underwriting and executing new investments, as well as engaging in portfolio management. Previously, Mr. Zhao worked in BNP Paribas’ Merchant Banking Group as a Leveraged Finance Analyst. Earlier he was part of the Private Equity group at CapitalSpring Finance Company and on the Investment Banking team at Chart Group Advisors. Mr. Zhao has a BS in Finance and Economics from New York University.
Abacus targets debt financing opportunities of up to $50 million with a typical hold size ranging from $10 million to $30 million. The companies that Abacus finances generally have EBITDAs between $3 million and $15 million. Abacus was formed in June 2011 and is an affiliate of New York Private Bank & Trust, the holding company for Emigrant Bank, founded in 1850, the largest privately held bank in America with approximately $10 billion in assets. Abacus is based in New York (www.abacusfinance.com).
© 2013 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 7-25-13
